A Streetcar Named Desire

It was interesting to me as a reader that in A Streetcar Named Desire the author chose to pit the fleeting values of the past against the upcoming values of the future that were diametrically different. Blanche, the "southern belle" lives in that past, but is crushed by it as well. We see it come up again and again as struggles with her drinking , saying she rarely touches it, but Stanley feeling that he has to dominate her and shatter this pretty idyllic world that she has created, tells her that "Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often." {page 639} In her struggle with her relationships with men we see Blanche search for that perfect match, someone to care for her, much like Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God , but Blanche, unlike Janie always self destructs. She can't quite attain the dream, so she settles for fulfilling her sexual needs, but hiding it, creating this idealistic world because women did not flaunt their sexuality. Stanley who discovers this uses Blanche's own past against her in the only way he can, taking that which a true southern belle holds to be her greatest gift. {Page 684} Even Mitch discovers Blanche's many lies and decides that she is not clean enough, that she does not possess the "womanly values" to be around him and his mother and is on the verge of sullying her already questionable reputation. {Page 680} It is a sad commentary on a life when a that's left is a path of lies and shattered dreams. Yet I see Stella as the more tragic character. She is the one who betrayed her sister in favor of her husband who beats her and will most likely beat their children. Stella is the one who left Belle Reve behind so it could fall. Stella is the one who choose to follow the new world values and leave behind everything. I find it ironic that in the end it is Stella who chooses of her own free will to live in this idealistic world where she has to believe lies and delude herself in order to continue to live with Stanley. It is an interesting commentary on life as we see how dependant the female characters on the men in the story. Williams as an author is portraying these gender roles so women have limited choices and we see how even Stella is locked into the past. Would we see, I wonder if Stella had chosen her sister to eventually leave Stanley, take her child and find a job, an apartment, a healthcare package and go on with life....without a man. Maybe that's the real elucidation of the story. men only complicate things and eventually make you go crazy.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

I really enjoyed reading Hurston's work and how Janie would not settle for what anyone else, her grandmother, her friends or even herself as she travlered through life thought should make her happy. She really broke the mold as to the myth of what women should act like in marriage and also as a woman. They are not the delicate, soft spoken, meek creatures that men saw them as. Janie in harnessing some of that freedom found herself some happiness in Tea Cake after two marriges that were less than desirable that severely limited that limited that freedom that Janie somehow managed to maintain. It is hard to imagine being so constricted and limited for so long that one cannot even let their hair fall loose on their shoulders and keeping that freedom of spirit. It seems like such a simple thing, yet that pleasure is a freedom that {yet in the readings that we have done} so often dies. Janie fights for her freedom and refuses to be without hers for long. It is that fiestiness that makes you relate and root for janie as you read her story. Somewhere in Janie there is a piece of you that can be seen and that is what Hurston is saying. Janie is all of us.

FAMILY TIES

Porter ingeniously illuminates the accepted Southern ideal, both negative and positive {unlike Fitzhugh and Faulkner who paint the South so negatively}. It is as though while she “tells us tales of the South” the issues of race, gender, family, freedom, family and even sexuality are broached, with humour, with irony and even a mixture of flattery and self reliance. One can picture being their as the stories happen.
We see with Uncle Jimbilly and Nannie, how freedom really is restrained after the war and emancipation. How many slaves were given this gift and did not have any idea of what to do or where to go next? Many, like Nannie and Uncle Jimbilly simply chose to stay where they were because they either had no where else to go, no skills, were attached to the land/family at the plantation or fear kept them rooted. Many slaves {such as Phyllis Wheatley at first} stayed on the farm, took their Master’s last name and continued as they were {Www.historychannel.com} Could this be another way in which the “supreme white race” further keeps slaves down, by offering freedom, but withholding supports, when many slave would need to be taught about freedom and what to do with it?
Sarah Jane, as a young woman I believe sees these inequalities and evils of society. This may be why she takes to her quiet way of rebellion and disobedience. From bonding with a slave, to working after her husband dies, managing the families affairs and resenting how her husband managed them while alive, and even breastfeeding both hers and Nannie’s infants and treating them more equally than anyone shows not only her character but her quiet determination to fight for change. She is the epitome of the Southern woman because she balances this notion so well with the expected virtues and ideals of a Southern woman, wife and mother. It was a strong woman then that is solely responsible for keeping her family together and she is shown as a hermaphrodite: filling both male and female roles. Truly extraordinary for a woman of that time to work the land, discipline slaves and children and keep the family together. In this way Sarah Jane shatters the old Southern ideas of what Woman should be and is instrumental in bringing about the “new woman” though she does not see it that way and tries to live in the past. Sarah Jane has strength, rather than softness, sensuality and disobedience in her character balancing what needs to be done with what she wants to do within her confines; the South, being a woman and a widow without a man and even being a mother. Maybe in that way, the white culture is even more bound that the slaves?!

Democracy and Freedom

Democracy and Freedom for All?!
Faulkner’s Dry September was so disturbing to me, not only because of the undertone of the lynching and murdering of Will Mayes, a member of this small community, but also because of the way that the author artfully depicted the means that the violence so quickly got out of hand. What began as a question of the truth of what actually happened between Will and Minnie Cooper {who are now separated by race and gender} swiftly turned into a heated discussion and then a call for blood based on innuendo and conjectures. The fact that Minnie is not the typical Southern female and has a questionable role in this situation is largely ignored by McLendon and the other men, as well as the small detail that Minnie has been ignored and ridiculed by the townsfolk for years. These particulars about Minnie do not seem to faze these men who simply take her “word” because she is a white woman, even after Hawkshaw vouches for Will’s innocence and good character.
The character of Hawkshaw can really be shown as someone who is basically good, but is caught between moral justice and violence. If he voiced his opinion anymore, he either would have met the same fate as Will Mayes, or be socially disgraced. The threat of violence would have been too much, especially after viewing the hostility and power of the mob. The violence that takes place is masked as “chivalry” - an archaic practice where men get together, bonded by testosterone who suddenly decide that some lady’s honour had supposedly been threatened and must be defended. How many innocent men died because of this very custom?
Faulkner highlights the rifts in society, both the roles between male/female and the social hierarchy, as well as the ever present racial tension that existed in the South. These were so well represented that it made me question the very fabric of democracy. This country was built on the blood of others who fought and died to bring freedom and democracy to all men, yet some like the men seen in this piece and witnessed throughout history like the KKK take it upon themselves to pass judgement on others, in regards to who is better than everyone else, racial purity and who lives and who dies.
Just as in Dry September, the power of one voice can make all the difference.

Douglass

In Frederick Douglass’ autobiography he states that he witnessed many misdeeds on the part of his various masters. As a child, he saw many members of his extended family {those he lived with on the plantation} being beaten, denied privileges, stealing to survive, running away or even being murdered. The author seems to briefly touch on each incident, without actually going into much detail. This may be due to the fact that Douglass was a child when he saw these things and cannot process the reasons why these things happened or why nothing was done about them. Douglass didn’t understand what happened or this may also be due to the fact that having a master, Douglass was told what to think about everything and did not dare put any real feelings into the piece for fear of either being chastised for it or bringing pain to those mentioned in the book. He did not understand the “They are only slaves” mentality that many slaveholders had when a death or a murder occurred. There may be another reason for Douglass’ silence on his feelings towards his feeling on his masters, as well as the things he saw and did as a slave. Frederick Douglass may also have in his writing felt that it was inappropriate to include his feelings in a book that was going to be available to the public at large and had them edited out, especially those childish feelings of long ago. Whatever his mentality about this, he was able to provide himself with an education through making a deal with boys on the street and keeping quiet. Would that we all could be that ingenious…

Chopin

In the piece “At the Cadian Ball” by Kate Chopin, the author paid a lot of attention to the description of each of the character’s finery as well as the development of the places surrounding them. The French that is used within the piece is interwoven so intricately that it becomes part of the story and the background of the characters. It is part of each of the character’s lives and their culture, not just stuck in there for show.
The author used distinction to emphasize the differences between men and women is markedly shown here. Chopin also went out of her way to accentuate their manners as the elegance of society. The better your manners are, the higher up in society you/your family is. The author also documented the competition between the sexes, especially how the women dominate each other over who has the better dress, or shoes, even the best beau. Men are shown competing with each other over the “fairer sex” as if they are a sport themselves.
It is an important historical note that Chopin wrote this piece during the coming in of the Victorian age, when women wanted more and were allowed to be somewhat more vocal {though doctors knew little of the female anatomy and were not allowed to examine females. See www.historychannel.com} Chopin may have described the piece as a “dance” because both sides have much at stake: the men are courting, hoping for a dowry and a proper wife while the women have to keep their gentlemen interested but at the same time without falling into the trap of giving too much and losing their chastity or worse.

Thoughts on Southern Readings

In reading George Fitzhugh's piece From Southern Thought, it was interesting to me that the author stated, numerous times that any society without black slavery would become dependant upon white slavery. In fact white slavery had historically occurred for centuries. Britain, in fact had been using white slavery since before the 1500, but in order to maintain the social niceties calling it "indentured servitude" However, in this case slaves could buy their freedom after seven years {the length of their bought contract} and were not in many cases treated as badly and black slaves. This seems to me an astounding concept to me that a white man would propose this concept, especially in a generally published article. Also interesting to me was the number of times that he brought Bible teachings into the mix, either to prove himself or disprove a point. It was almost like he was feeling guilty or he was hiding behind the Bible and using it as a protection point to anyone who would challenge him because Fitzhugh was ready with a defense. He was refusing to take responsibility for what he wrote or the fallout. In reading further on, it was neat to read that he treated the South as an actually living breathing person, a woman. That alone paints a picture of softness, delicateness, taking care of the family and home as well as education. This woman controlled opinions in fashion, education, literature, crop production, and societal acceptance. This piece places alight on what southern writers and society thought about slavery and how the though society would do without it.